Chapter 20

CHAPTER 20 "Will she live?" Fireheart asked anxiously. Cinderpelt let out a weary sigh. She had come to Snakerocks as fast as her uneven legs could run and done her best to patch up the worst of Brightpaw's injuries with cobwebs to stop the bleeding and poppy seeds for the pain. At last the apprentice had recovered enough to be dragged back through the forest to the camp, and now she lay unconscious in a nest among the ferns near Cinderpelt's den. "I don't know," Cinderpelt admitted. "I've done the best I can. She's in the paws of StarClan now." "She's a strong cat," Fireheart meowed, trying to reassure himself. When he looked at Brightpaw now, curled among the ferns, she looked anything but strong. She seemed smaller than a kit, no more than a scrap of fur. Fireheart half expected each shallow breath to be her last. "Even if she recovers, she'll be hideously scarred," Cinderpelt warned him. "I couldn't save her ear or eye. I don't know that she'll ever be a warrior."

第二十章“她能活下来吗？”火心焦急地问。 灰姑娘发出一声疲惫的叹息。 她以最快的速度跑到了蛇岩，用蜘蛛网和罂粟籽把亮爪子最严重的伤口包扎起来，止住流血，止痛。 最后，学徒恢复了健康，可以穿过森林被拖回营地，现在她躺在灰姑娘洞穴附近蕨类植物中的一个窝里，失去了知觉。 “我不知道，”灰姑娘承认。 “我已经尽力了。 她现在受星族的控制了。” “她是只强壮的猫。”火心叫道，试图让自己放心。 现在他看着蜷缩在蕨类植物丛中的亮爪，她一点也不强壮。 她看起来比一个工具箱还小，比一块毛皮还小。 火心半以为每一口浅浅的呼吸都是她的最后一口气。 “即使她康复了，也会留下可怕的伤疤。”灰姑娘警告他。 “我救不了她的耳朵和眼睛。 我不知道她会不会成为一名战士。”

Fireheart nodded. He felt sick as he forced himself to look at the side of Brightpaw's face, now swathed in cobwebs. All this reminded him of Cinderpelt's accident, when Yellowfang had told him that the young she-cat's leg would never heal properly. "She said something about the 'pack,'" he murmured. "I wonder what it was she really saw." Cinderpelt shook her head. "It's what we've been afraid of all along. There's something in the forest hunting us down. I heard it in my dream." "I know." Fireheart's muscles tensed with regret. "I should have done something long ago. StarClan sent that warning to Bluestar too." "But Bluestar has no respect for StarClan anymore. I'm surprised she even listened to them." "Do you think that's why this happened?" Fireheart spun around and faced the medicine cat. "No." Cinderpelt's voice was strained as she moved closer to Fireheart and pressed herself against him. "StarClan did not send the evil; I'm sure of that." As she spoke, a rustling in the fern tunnel

Fireheart点点头。当他强迫自己看着亮爪子那张布满蜘蛛网的脸时，他感到恶心。 这一切使他想起了灰姑娘的意外，当时黄牙告诉他，小母猫的腿永远不会痊愈。 “她说了些关于‘背包’的事，”他喃喃地说。 “我想知道她到底看到了什么。” 灰姑娘摇了摇头。 “这正是我们一直害怕的。 森林里有什么东西在追杀我们。 我在梦里听到的。”“我知道。” 火心的肌肉因后悔而绷紧。 “我早就该做点什么了。 StarClan也向Bluestar发出了警告。” 但是Bluestar已经不再尊重StarClan了。 我很惊讶她竟然听进去了。” “你认为这就是事情发生的原因吗？”火心转过身来，面对着药猫。 “没有。”灰姑娘走近火心，紧紧抱住他，声音变得紧张起来。 “星际氏族没有派遣邪恶；这一点我很确定。” 她说话的时候，蕨类植物的隧道里传来了沙沙的声音

announced the arrival of Cloudtail. "I thought I told you to get some rest," Cinderpelt meowed. "I couldn't sleep." The white cat padded over to settle himself in the ferns beside his friend. "I want to be with Brightpaw." He bent his head to give her shoulder a gentle lick. "Sleep well, Brightpaw. You're still beautiful," he murmured. "Come back to us. I don't know where you are now, but you have to come back." He went on licking her for a moment more and then looked up to fix a hostile glare on Fireheart. "This is all your fault!" he burst out. "She and Swiftpaw should have been made warriors, and then they wouldn't have gone off on their own." Fireheart met his kin's gaze steadily. "Yes, I know," he mewed. "I tried, believe me." He broke off as he heard the soft pawsteps of another cat, and turned to see that Bluestar was approaching. Fireheart had sent Sandstorm to fetch her, and the ginger warrior followed her into the medicine cat's clearing. The Clan leader stood and looked down at

宣布云尾巴的到来。 “我想我告诉过你要好好休息，”灰姑娘喵喵叫道。 “我睡不着。”那只白猫蹑手蹑脚地走过去，坐在他朋友旁边的蕨类植物丛中。 “我想和亮爪在一起。” 他低下头轻轻地舔了舔她的肩膀。 “睡个好觉，亮爪子。你还是那么美，”他喃喃地说。 “回到我们身边来。我不知道你现在在哪里，但你必须回来。” 他又舔了一会儿她，然后抬起头来，恶狠狠地瞪了火心一眼。 “这都是你的错！” 哈利说，“她和Swiftpaw应该被封为战士，那样他们就不会独自离开了。” 火心坚定地注视着他亲戚的目光。 “是的，我知道，”他叫道。“我试过了，相信我。” 当他听到另一只猫轻柔的脚步声时，他停了下来，转过身来，看到蓝星正在靠近。 火心派沙暴去接她，姜色战士跟着她进了药猫的空地。 氏族首领站起来，低头看着

Brightpaw in silence. Cloudtail raised his head challengingly, and for a heartbeat Fireheart thought he was going to accuse Bluestar of being responsible for Brightpaw's terrible injuries as well, but Cloudtail stayed silent. Bluestar blinked a couple of times and asked, "Is she dying?" "That's up to StarClan," Cinderpelt told her, catching Fireheart's eye. "And what mercy can we expect from them?" Bluestar growled. "If it's up to StarClan, Brightpaw will die." "Without ever being a warrior," mewed Cloudtail; his voice was quiet and sorrowful, and he bent his head again to lick Brightpaw's shoulder. "Not necessarily." Bluestar spoke reluctantly. "There is a ritual—thankfully little used—if a dying apprentice is worthy, she can be made into a warrior so that she may take a warrior name to StarClan." She hesitated. Fireheart held his breath in disbelief. Would Bluestar really put aside her anger at their ancestors to acknowledge the importance of

亮爪沉默着。云尾巴挑衅地抬起头来，火心一时以为他也要指责蓝星对亮爪造成的严重伤害负责，但云尾巴保持沉默。 蓝星眨了几下眼睛，问道：“她快死了吗？”“这取决于星族。”灰姑娘告诉她，引起了火心的注意。 “我们能指望从他们那里得到什么怜悯呢？”蓝星咆哮道。 “如果由StarClan决定，Brightpaw会死的。” “我从来没有当过战士，”云尾巴叫道；他的声音平静而悲伤，他又低下头去舔亮爪子的肩膀。 “未必。”蓝星不情愿地说。 “有一个仪式——谢天谢地，很少有人使用——如果一个垂死的学徒有价值，她就可以成为一名战士，这样她就可以把一个战士的名字带到星族。” 她犹豫了一下。火心难以置信地屏住了呼吸。 蓝星真的会放下对自己祖先的愤怒，承认自己的重要性吗

StarClan in a warrior's life? Was she about to admit that Brightpaw had been denied the warrior status she deserved? Cloudtail looked up at the gray she-cat again. "Then do it," he growled. Bluestar did not react to being ordered around by her newest warrior. As Fireheart and Cinderpelt looked on, pelts touching for comfort, and Sandstorm approached to bear silent witness, the Clan leader dipped her head and began to speak. "I ask my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has learned the warrior code and has given up her life in the service of her Clan. Let StarClan receive her as a warrior." Then she paused, and her eyes blazed with anger that burned like cold fire. "She will be known as Lostface, so that every cat knows what StarClan did to take her from us," she growled. Fireheart stared at his leader in horror. How could she use this terribly wounded apprentice in her war against her warrior ancestors? "But that's a cruel name!" Cloudtail protested. "What if she lives?" "Then we will have all the more reason to

战士生活中的星际战队？ 她是不是要承认亮爪被剥夺了她应得的战士地位？ 云尾巴又抬头看了看灰母猫。 “那就动手吧。”他咆哮道。蓝星对她的新战士的命令没有任何反应。 火心和灰姑娘在一旁看着，毛皮互相抚摸以寻求安慰，沙暴也走过来做沉默的见证，氏族首领低下头开始说话。 “我请求我的武士祖先看轻这个徒弟。 她已经学会了战士的法则，并为她的部落献出了自己的生命。 让星族接纳她为战士吧。” 然后她停了下来，她的眼睛里闪烁着怒火，像冰冷的火一样燃烧着。 她咆哮道：“我们会叫她‘失脸’，让每只猫都知道星际战队是怎么把她从我们身边夺走的。” 火心惊恐地盯着他的首领。 她怎么能利用这个重伤的学徒来对抗她的战士祖先呢？ “可这名字太残忍了！”Cloudtail抗议道。 “如果她活着怎么办？”“那我们就更有理由这么做了

remember what StarClan have brought us to," Bluestar replied, her voice barely more than a whisper. "They will have this warrior as Lostface, or not at all." Cloudtail held her gaze for a moment longer, the light of challenge in his blue eyes, and then dipped his head as if he knew there was no point in arguing. "Let StarClan receive her by the name of Lostface," Bluestar finished. She bent her head and lightly touched her nose to Lostface's head. "There, it is done," she murmured. As if the touch had roused her, Lostface's eyes opened and a look of terrible fear flooded into them. For a moment she struggled back to wakefulness. "Pack, pack!" She gasped. "Kill, kill!" Bluestar recoiled, her fur bristling. "What? What does she mean?" she demanded. But Lostface had sunk into unconsciousness again. Bluestar looked wildly from Cinderpelt to Fireheart and back again. "What did she mean?" she repeated. "I don't know," Cinderpelt mewed uneasily. "That's all she will say."

记住《星际战队》带给我们的是什么。”蓝星回答道，她的声音几乎比耳语还要低。 “他们要么让这个战士当‘失面’，要么就不要他。” 云尾巴又凝视了一会儿，他的蓝眼睛里充满了挑战的光芒，然后低下头，好像他知道争论没有意义。 “让星族以‘失脸’的名义接收她吧。”蓝星最后说。 她低下头，用鼻子轻轻地碰了碰失智脸的头。 “好了，搞定了，”她喃喃地说。 仿佛是那触碰唤醒了她，“丢脸”睁开了眼睛，眼中充满了可怕的恐惧。 她挣扎着恢复了清醒。 “包,包!”她喘着气。“杀,杀!”蓝星退缩了，她的毛竖了起来。 “什么?她是什么意思？”她质问道。 可是“丢脸”又失去了知觉。 蓝星疯狂地看了看灰姑娘和火心，又看了看。 “她是什么意思？”她重复道。 “我不知道，”灰姑娘不安地叫道。 “她只会说这么多。”